I think every Eva fan goes through a journey while watching the series.

I remember the first time I saw Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was ten years after it’s Japanese debut in 1995 and Rachel and I figured it was finally time to watch it. I had a few preconceived ideas about the series – it sounded overrated; the lead (Shinji Ikari) sounded annoying, they were a bunch of 14 year-olds; blah blah blah. Needless to say, I wasn’t too excited to watch it. But at the end of Shinji’s first Eva/Angel battle I had changed my mind! And so I became an Eva fan….at least until the final episodes. Actually, it wasn’t the episodes themselves that made continually scream at the television…it was the OVAs that were the last straw!

The series kind of faded away in my mind for a while, until I heard about Rebuild of Evangelion. A chance to re-do the series in film format? Sign me up!

So at long last, here we find ourselves with the first of four ‘re-imagined’ Eva films – Evangelion 1.01: You Are (Not) Alone – debuted on DVD by Funimation last month. And so that leads us up to today, where I’m wrapping up a review of the first film.

Until then, let’s talk about what you liked/loved or disliked/hated about Evangelion 1.01: You Are (Not) Alone!

“EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE” is the film sequel to the sci-fi animated series blockbuster Neon Genesis Evangelion (also written and directed by Hideaki Anno) which aired on Japanese television in the mid 1990’s.

Director in Chief Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and the creative staff of this film made a complete rebuild of the design and visuals rather than magnifying the original 16 mm film from the series. The team was also able to employ 3D computer graphics to enrich the depth and breadth of the Evangelion world as well as digital photography and composite nonlinear editing.

ABOUT EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE There was no foreseeable warning before it happened – a catastrophe of unparalleled scale and magnitude overwhelmed the entire globe. This event, recorded in history as “The Second Impact,” caused half the population of the Earth to perish and devastated the world. All that remains of Japan is Tokyo-3, a city that is now being attacked by giant creatures that seek to destroy mankind. These creatures are called Angels.

Fourteen year old Shinji Ikari is called to Tokyo-3 by his father who he hasn’t seen in more than eight years. He is asked to come to the NERV headquarters to meet his father. His father reveals to him a gigantic humanoid weapons system that the special governmental agency has secretly developed to fight the Angels and then orders Shinji to pilot the giant artificial human Evangelion Unit One.

With the fate of the world resting on his shoulders, how will the 14 year old boy Shinji fight? What is the truth behind “The Human Instrumentality Project,” an operation somehow related to the “Second Impact”? And who is the true enemy? The Angels, NERV, the mysterious SEELE, or the demons held within the hearts of all involved?

Gend? Ikari, a man who holds many answers to these questions, watches silently and attentively as his son fights a desperate battle…Funimation Entertainment will premiere EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE Friday, July 3, in room LP1 at Anime Expo.